Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Yankees.com: Jeter, Tex take home Gold Gloves
Shortstop Derek Jeter and first baseman Mark Teixeira were named to the Rawlings American League Gold Glove team, taking home the awards for the fourth and third times in their Major League careers, respectively.
Here are the 2009 AL defensive metrics at each of the AL non-pitcher positions, using an average of zone rating and Fangraphs’ UZR, except for catchers, where I use a system like the one developed by Sean Smith as detailed in this article. Gold glove winners are highlighted in yellow. I’ve restricted the list to players who played at least 700 innings at their listed position.
| Name | Team | Pos | Innings | zRSAA | uRSAA | aRSAA |
| Morales, Kendry | LAA | 1B | 1207 | 6 | 5 | 5 |
| Teixeira, Mark | NYA | 1B | 1284 | 8 | -1 | 4 |
| Morneau, Justin | MIN | 1B | 1179 | 6 | 2 | 4 |
| Youkilis, Kevin | BOS | 1B | 1076 | 3 | 4 | 3 |
| Cabrera, Miguel | DET | 1B | 1253 | 4 | 2 | 3 |
| Overbay, Lyle | TOR | 1B | 976 | 5 | -1 | 2 |
| Garko, Ryan | CLE | 1B | 793 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Konerko, Paul | CHA | 1B | 1241 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| Branyan, Russell | SEA | 1B | 1034 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Huff, Aubrey | BAL | 1B | 1204 | 3 | -3 | 0 |
| Blalock, Hank | TEX | 1B | 956 | -4 | 2 | -1 |
| Wigginton, Ty | BAL | 1B | 869 | -6 | 0 | -3 |
| LaRoche, Adam | BOS | 1B | 1209 | -5 | -3 | -4 |
| Davis, Chris | TEX | 1B | 858 | -8 | -2 | -5 |
| Pena, Carlos | TB | 1B | 1155 | -8 | -4 | -6 |
| Butler, Billy | KC | 1B | 1252 | -8 | -6 | -7 |
| Name | Team | Pos | Innings | zRSAA | uRSAA | aRSAA |
| Zobrist, Ben | TB | 2B | 1123 | 6 | 16 | 11 |
| Pedroia, Dustin | BOS | 2B | 1259 | 8 | 11 | 10 |
| Polanco, Placido | DET | 2B | 1184 | 8 | 11 | 10 |
| Kinsler, Ian | TEX | 2B | 1167 | 11 | 8 | 9 |
| Ellis, Mark | OAK | 2B | 823 | 9 | 2 | 5 |
| Kendrick, Howie | LAA | 2B | 806 | 7 | 3 | 5 |
| Izturis, Maicer | LAA | 2B | 844 | 1 | 5 | 3 |
| Hill, Aaron | TOR | 2B | 1294 | 4 | -1 | 2 |
| Punto, Nick | MIN | 2B | 928 | -1 | 3 | 1 |
| Getz, Chris | CHA | 2B | 878 | 0 | -6 | -3 |
| Lopez, Jose | SEA | 2B | 1260 | -7 | 1 | -3 |
| Cano, Robinson | NYA | 2B | 1331 | -2 | -6 | -4 |
| Callaspo, Alberto | KC | 2B | 1247 | -2 | -9 | -5 |
| Roberts, Brian | BAL | 2B | 1258 | -4 | -7 | -5 |
| Valbuena, Luis | CLE | 2B | 772 | -8 | -5 | -7 |
| Name | Team | Pos | Innings | zRSAA | uRSAA | aRSAA |
| Longoria, Evan | TB | 3B | 1241 | 15 | 18 | 16 |
| Figgins, Chone | LAA | 3B | 1301 | 16 | 15 | 16 |
| Crede, Joe | MIN | 3B | 764 | 14 | 12 | 13 |
| Inge, Brandon | DET | 3B | 1270 | 15 | 10 | 13 |
| Rolen, Scott | TOR | 3B | 1053 | 14 | 6 | 10 |
| Beltre, Adrian | SEA | 3B | 910 | 3 | 13 | 8 |
| Kennedy, Adam | OAK | 3B | 1048 | 4 | -4 | 0 |
| Beckham, Gordon | CHA | 3B | 809 | 1 | -2 | -1 |
| Hairston Jr., Jerry | NYA | 3B | 884 | -3 | 0 | -2 |
| Mora, Melvin | BAL | 3B | 988 | -3 | -1 | -2 |
| DeRosa, Mark | CLE | 3B | 1098 | -2 | -4 | -3 |
| Teahen, Mark | KC | 3B | 1128 | -4 | -7 | -5 |
| Young, Michael | TEX | 3B | 1135 | -5 | -7 | -6 |
| Peralta, Jhonny | CLE | 3B | 1213 | -8 | -4 | -6 |
| Rodriguez, Alex | NYA | 3B | 1002 | -6 | -8 | -7 |
| Lowell, Mike | BOS | 3B | 931 | -6 | -11 | -8 |
| Name | Team | Pos | Innings | zRSAA | uRSAA | aRSAA |
| Laird, Gerald | DET | C | 1079 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
| Rodriguez, Ivan | TEX | C | 962 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Barajas, Rod | TOR | C | 974 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Mauer, Joe | MIN | C | 927 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Suzuki, Kurt | OAK | C | 1173 | -1 | -1 | -1 |
| Navarro, Dioner | TB | C | 921 | -2 | -2 | -2 |
| Saltalamacchia, Jarrod | TEX | C | 714 | -3 | -3 | -3 |
| Pierzynski, A.J. | CHA | C | 1104 | -9 | -9 | -9 |
| Posada, Jorge | NYA | C | 785 | -10 | -10 | -10 |
| Olivo, Miguel | KC | C | 846 | -10 | -10 | -10 |
| Napoli, Mike | LAA | C | 758 | -12 | -12 | -12 |
| Name | Team | Pos | Innings | zRSAA | uRSAA | aRSAA |
| Gutierrez, Franklin | SEA | CF | 1257 | 6 | 27 | 16 |
| Gomez, Carlos | MIN | CF | 830 | 10 | 6 | 8 |
| Davis, Rajai | OAK | CF | 823 | 2 | 9 | 6 |
| Granderson, Curtis | DET | CF | 1266 | 7 | 1 | 4 |
| Cabrera, Melky | NYA | CF | 1122 | 4 | 2 | 3 |
| Hamilton, Josh | TEX | CF | 718 | 0 | 6 | 3 |
| Span, Denard | MIN | CF | 1167 | 4 | -1 | 1 |
| Upton, B.J. | TB | CF | 1134 | -8 | 11 | 1 |
| Sizemore, Grady | CLE | CF | 932 | 3 | -3 | 0 |
| Rios, Alex | CHA | CF | 1249 | 0 | -1 | 0 |
| Maier, Mitch | KC | CF | 794 | -4 | 0 | -2 |
| Hunter, Torii | LAA | CF | 951 | -2 | -3 | -2 |
| Byrd, Marlon | TEX | CF | 1180 | -2 | -4 | -3 |
| Jones, Adam | BAL | CF | 1005 | -4 | -6 | -5 |
| Matthews Jr., Gary | LAA | CF | 720 | 2 | -15 | -6 |
| Ellsbury, Jacoby | BOS | CF | 1224 | -11 | -16 | -13 |
| Wells, Vernon | TOR | CF | 1280 | -9 | -18 | -14 |
| Name | Team | Pos | Innings | zRSAA | uRSAA | aRSAA |
| DeJesus, David | KC | LF | 1224 | 6 | 16 | 11 |
| Crawford, Carl | TB | LF | 1224 | 7 | 14 | 11 |
| Rivera, Juan | LAA | LF | 1095 | 4 | 14 | 9 |
| Holliday, Matt | OAK | LF | 1283 | 7 | 4 | 5 |
| Hairston, Scott | OAK | LF | 916 | 6 | 2 | 4 |
| Murphy, David | TEX | LF | 940 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| Podsednik, Scott | CHA | LF | 1086 | 4 | -1 | 1 |
| Hall, Bill | SEA | LF | 729 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Bautista, Jose | TOR | LF | 790 | -2 | -2 | -2 |
| Francisco, Ben | CLE | LF | 881 | -4 | -6 | -5 |
| Reimold, Nolan | BAL | LF | 831 | 0 | -10 | -5 |
| Damon, Johnny | NYA | LF | 1111 | 0 | -11 | -6 |
| Young, Delmon | MIN | LF | 769 | -2 | -14 | -8 |
| Quentin, Carlos | CHA | LF | 763 | -4 | -17 | -10 |
| Bay, Jason | BOS | LF | 1216 | -19 | -12 | -16 |
| Name | Team | Pos | Innings | zRSAA | uRSAA | aRSAA |
| Sweeney, Ryan | OAK | RF | 1057 | 7 | 13 | 10 |
| Cruz, Nelson | TEX | RF | 1061 | 6 | 13 | 10 |
| Suzuki, Ichiro | SEA | RF | 1210 | 7 | 9 | 8 |
| Drew, J.D. | BOS | RF | 1047 | 2 | 10 | 6 |
| Bloomquist, Willie | KC | RF | 894 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| Choo, Shin-Soo | CLE | RF | 1269 | 5 | -2 | 1 |
| Rios, Alex | TOR | RF | 1249 | 3 | -3 | 0 |
| Guerrero, Vladimir | LAA | RF | 772 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swisher, Nick | NYA | RF | 1161 | -4 | 3 | 0 |
| Ordonez, Magglio | DET | RF | 935 | -3 | 1 | -1 |
| Markakis, Nick | BAL | RF | 1309 | -1 | -8 | -5 |
| Abreu, Bobby | LAA | RF | 1223 | -11 | -10 | -10 |
| Dye, Jermaine | CHA | RF | 1135 | -5 | -19 | -12 |
| Cuddyer, Michael | MIN | RF | 1223 | -11 | -16 | -13 |
| Name | Team | Pos | Innings | zRSAA | uRSAA | aRSAA |
| Andrus, Elvis | TEX | SS | 1146 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| Everett, Adam | DET | SS | 900 | 9 | 8 | 8 |
| Wilson, Jack | SEA | SS | 916 | 2 | 14 | 8 |
| Izturis, Cesar | BAL | SS | 875 | 5 | 8 | 6 |
| Aybar, Erick | LAA | SS | 1134 | 5 | 6 | 6 |
| Scutaro, Marco | TOR | SS | 1266 | 8 | 0 | 4 |
| Ramirez, Alexei | CHA | SS | 1222 | 2 | 4 | 3 |
| Jeter, Derek | NYA | SS | 1246 | -2 | 7 | 2 |
| Gonzalez, Alex | BOS | SS | 867 | -1 | 5 | 2 |
| Cedeno, Ronny | SEA | SS | 842 | 6 | -2 | 2 |
| Green, Nick | BOS | SS | 748 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| Harris, Brendan | MIN | SS | 895 | -1 | -2 | -1 |
| Bartlett, Jason | TB | SS | 1107 | 0 | -4 | -2 |
| Cabrera, Asdrubal | CLE | SS | 1059 | -9 | -4 | -6 |
| Cabrera, Orlando | MIN | SS | 1281 | -6 | -17 | -11 |
| Betancourt, Yuniesky | SEA | SS | 1084 | -18 | -21 | -20 |
zRSAA: Zone rating runs saved above average
uRSAA: UZR runs saved above average
aRSAA: Average of zRSAA and uRSAA.
These are the cumulative runs saved above/below average, not pro-rated to a set number of games.
UZR and ZR will disagree for a few reasons. Zone rating treats all fieldable chances the same. Plays that are converted into outs at least 50% of the time in a fielder's zone of responsibility are considered as fieldable chances. There are also some park factors in certain parks (notably Fenway LF) that are not handled well by zone rating.
UZR makes a large number of adjustments. Chances are graded on degree of difficulty, in terms of how hard the ball is hit, where it's hit, the handedness and GB/FB tendency of the pitchers in front of the fielder, and with appropriate park adjustments.
When you see a large disparity like we see with Teixeira with zone rating much higher than UZR, it likely means that he saw an easier distribution of chances, so even though he fielded them well, once UZR makes its adjustments he gets penalized for that. It should also be noted that 1B ZR/UZR does not incorporate scooping (which generally has a range of -5 to +5 runs at most in any given season) or ability to field foul popups.
If you compare the Gold Glove winner to the top defender at each position, here are the differences in average runs saved.
Jones, Adam, CF : -21
Hunter, Torii, CF: -19
Jeter, Derek, SS: -8
Mauer, Joe, C: -7
Suzuki, Ichiro, RF: -2
Teixeira, Mark, 1B: -1
Polanco, Placido, 2B: -1
Longoria, Evan, 3B: 0
OF gets lumped together, but I compared Hunter and Jones to Franklin Gutierrez and Ichiro to Ryan Sweeney/Nelson Cruz.
People will harp on Jeter's Gold Glove not being justified, and it's not, but Jones and Hunter are far more egregiously bad picks if you believe these numbers. Teix's and Polanco's Gold Gloves seem defensible (get it, DEFENS-ible), and Longoria seemingly deserves his. I guess Ichiro's is too if you compare him to RF, although if you lump all OFs together, three CFs should win. It just should have been Franklin Gutierrez, Carlos Gomez and Rajai Davis I suppose.
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